Above and Beyond
by reindeerguardian
Summary: Jake falls in love with Marceline, but when she refuses to love him back, he realises he has to go above and beyond the call of duty to win over her undead heart.


Jake was always terrified of vampires. Particularly Marceline.

He was never sure why, but being around her made him feel light and fluttery inside. He felt like he could stretch forever and ever when she was near. And it scared him.

It scared him because he wasn't supposed to feel that way, not around Marceline. He'd felt it before, when he'd first met Lady. But the spark was gone, put out. Something had struck a new one inside him, a vampiric spark.

He hated feeling this way, because all it caused him was guilt. He had a girlfriend; he couldn't be in love with someone else! She didn't even like him, let alone return the feelings he had. If anything, she was in love with Finn. She was always flirting with him and kissing him and getting near to him. It bothered Jake sometimes, but mostly he tried to ignore it. It's pretty hard to ignore your brother with the girl you love though.

For a long time he masked his feelings with fear. Pretending to be afraid of her herself, and not the way she made him feel. He'd tried to kill her once. To get rid of the way she made him feel. He'd pretended to be helping Finn, which was part of it, but he really just didn't want to feel guilty anymore. That had failed though. He avoided her at all costs and when he was near her, rarely said anything or looked her way. He was pretty sure she noticed, but she probably just figured he was still afraid of her. He'd started getting braver, speaking more often, touching her hair, protecting her from demons and the like. And then one day, Lady Rainicorn broke up with him.

He was upset, obviously. He's lost the girl he'd once loved. But mostly he was upset because he'd lost an excuse. Now when he went near Marceline; his feelings were stronger, and weren't repressed by guilt. It gave him even more of a reason to go see her. Now he was truly afraid.

He tried telling Finn. But that proved to be a huge mistake.

"Marceline?!" he'd laughed. "I thought you were afraid of her!"

"I am." He mumbled. Finn only laughed and shook his head.

"Whatever man." He sighed, petting his brother on the head and climbing upstairs to bed. Jake became dejected at his friends reaction. He'd been expecting something much more helpful or understanding. But the only thing he'd done was laugh and ran away. Finn never could handle romance easily.

He'd thought about telling her how he felt, but the thought scared him more than she did. How would she react? What would she do to him? There was no way she felt the same, he'd destroyed that hope long ago. Besides, he was a dog. No matter how incredibly sexy he was, that wouldn't change. So he gave up hope. He still loved her, but it wouldn't ever matter.

One day, he and Finn were headed to her house. Finn had a strange look on his face and Jake couldn't figure it out.

"Hey, Finn, what's up?" Finn looked down at him and grinned.

"Nothing! Don't worry about it." He looked ahead, and then back at Jake. "I'm gonna run ahead, take your time!" he called, running off in the direction of the vampire queen's cave.

By the time Jake arrived at her house, it was growing dark outside and the two inside were talking in hushed whispers. They must have heard him outside, because the conversation changed and their voices grew louder.

"Hey guys." Jake greeted them as he entered the house, giving Shwabel a wave.

"Hey Jake." They giggled waving back to them. He plopped down carefully on her couch, knowing from experience that it would probably break his spine if he plopped too hard.

"So…what's going on?" he asked casually. They both laughed.

"Nothing!" they both managed to choke out. Jake couldn't help noticing she was blushing. Something Marceline rarely ever did.

"Well…" Finn said standing up, "I have to go meet Flame Princess at Make Out Point." He grinned. "LSP offered to take us."

"That's cool bro." Jake said getting up.

"Umm...Jake? Why don't you, like, stay here?" Marceline asked grinning at him. She put on a scary face. "Unless you're too scared."

"No!"

"Good." Finn said. "'cause I think it'd be weird if you came with us…" he laughed. "See you guys later!" and he ran out the door, leaving the two alone in an awkward silence. Jake shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"So…" he asked, not meeting her gaze. She sighed.

"I'm gonna skip all the casual talk and get right to the point." She began. Jake raised his eyebrows.

"What?" she ignored him.

"Finn told me what you think of me." Jake felt all the color run from his face, and then rush back in a furious blush.

"Wha-what?" he gulped. She smiled at him, revealing her fangs and making him dizzy.

"Do you really love me?" he only sat there, stunned, stupefied at her suddenness. What should he say? Should he confess? Should he deny? Would she think any more or any less of him?

"I-I um…I…" he didn't know what to say.

"Because I know that I'm kind of a jerk to you." She made a scoffing noise, "ok, I'm a jerk to everyone. But I think I go a little harder on you. For some reason." He stared at her. "Do you know why?" he shook his head wordlessly, ears and jowls flopping in the process.

"I scare you because I like the sound of your blood racing…of your heart beating faster. Even when were just sitting around, it's always racing, I love it." Her face softened, and reddened at the same time. He wondered vaguely if she'd ever try to suck the red out of a blush.

"I love you." She finished, leaning back to see his reaction. Jake was flabbergasted, stunned, shocked, flummoxed, amazed and absolutely dumbfounded.

"I-I love you too!" he blurted out; he hadn't even known he was going to say it. He instantly felt his face grow hotter. Why had he said anything?! But she only stared at him.

"I love you. But that doesn't mean its ok. You're a dog. I'm a vampire. It wouldn't work." She looked away from him for a moment, and looked back. "I'm sorry Jake. But you're a dog, and that's not gonna change. But, we can still be friends."

He looked absolutely heartbroken.

Right. Friends.

The thought terrified him.

**Well. This is my OTP. Those of you who've read my other stuff probably have figured that out. I really need to be working on other stuff. Anyway, enjoy.**


End file.
